8. Derek Bailey And Min TanakaMusic And Dance
I’ve no idea how many Derek Bailey albums I have, but this one is my favourite. The first four minutes and 30 seconds is the most heartbreaking music he ever made, it absolutely shreds me. And it doesn’t surprise me that it’s with Min Tanaka, who’s probably one of my favourite artists of all time. They had a longstanding musical love affair with each other. Min Tanaka is not somebody who necessarily says so many nice things about other people, but you hear him talk about Derek Bailey and he’s like, “He’s a god.” In the first four and a half minutes, it’s mostly this almost modal music, like bells. It’s patient, it’s chiming and it’s fucking gorgeous. For anyone who thinks that the era of insect improv is just a bunch of scratchy noise, I would say listen to the first four and half minutes of this, and if you still think that’s noise, then just go fuck off, I guess.
If I could transport myself anywhere in the world at any time, I think that concert would definitely be in the top three. I’ve travelled far and wide to see Min Tanaka dance, and seeing these two together would have just been unbelievable.
I think that there is a psychedelic aspect to how music can break your heart. I think if somebody’s trying to tear your heart out, it won’t. I think it’s just chance, a chance operation. Why I find this so beautiful is that it sounds like nature is playing it. It doesn’t sound like somebody’s playing it. It’s like when you’re taking a walk somewhere and you just see a shard of light, and it just hits you. Someone’s intention can’t reach you that way – the intention would get in the way. I think Derek’s music is an incredible practice of him bypassing his own intention, and on that record I think he does it as well as he ever did, and he did it well a lot.
